Dick-in-a-Box

This angry looking guy you see here is Richard. As you can see, he’s stuck in a box. Around here we affectionately call him Dick-in-a-Box. We could call him Rick or Ricky or Rich -in-a-Box but for obvious reasons, Dick-in-a-Box just sounds more fun.

As you can see, Richard is quite angry. We may not want to see Richard when he’s angry, but we do. All the time. He pops out from time to time to vent and cuss and express his frustration, but sadly for poor Richard, he’s pretty much trapped in that box and venting and cussing is all he can really do about the stuff that angers him.

You may be asking yourself two questions right now. First; “why is Richard stuck in a box?” and second; “what is it that makes him so angry?” Well, despite what it looks like, the box that confines Dick isn’t a physical one. It’s more of a metaphor… a symbolic box that represents the many ways he’s forced to limit his emotions, self-expression, behavior and activities to be seen as tough and manly. Richard very much wants to be seen as tough and manly.

So what makes Richard angry? Basically when people talk about, do things and act in ways that aren’t “normal” to his world view and appear to be out of the box. He has very traditional views on what it means to be a man, so everything I write about seems to piss him off. I make him mad, he starts flexing, yelling and cussing then rips his shirt off and breaks things. It’s all very predictable and frankly kind of hilarious, so I decided to make him my mascot.

Because of this, I’ve decided to put Richard right on the homepage, making him my site’s logo. He’ll also be showing up every once in a while to serve as our “Dick-in-a-Box Award.” It’s a little something we hand out to honor the people, events, stories, things and so on that make men look bad. You know, the stuff that pops up in the media that fits the profile of limited masculinity (especially when it leads to stupid or harmful behavior). You’ll find all our Dick-in-a-Box award recipients listed over here. Keep an eye out, as I have a feeling we’ll be seeing Richard pretty often in this capacity.

Oh and one final thing about Richard… he doesn’t exactly know that he’s trapped in a box. We can see it, but he doesn’t. I’m sure he’s not comfortable in there, but he doesn’t know anything else. So I think it’s best that we don’t say anything to him about it. Okay?

Welcome to How Manly, my blog about masculinity in the media (mostly).

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About How Manly:

If you’ve ever questioned the messages and images thrown at you while consuming various forms of media, you’re in the right place. Here at How Manly, we dissect mass media visions of masculinity, placing them under the microscope in search of deeper understanding and the answers to questions like; Is this what it means to be a man? Really? You sure about that?